A White House reporter confronted White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre about suicide rates increasing among young girls as school administrators allow males in women’s locker rooms.
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley suggested school administrators allowing males into women’s locker rooms drives up suicide rates during a Sunday CNN town hall with Jake Tapper.
Haley said, “My daughter ran track in high school. I don’t even know how I would have that conversation with her. How are we supposed to get our girls used to the fact that biological boys are in their locker rooms? And then we wonder why a third of our teenage girls seriously contemplated suicide last year. We should be growing strong girls, confident girls.”
Jean-Pierre dodged the idea, instead lamenting against Republicans for passing laws banning men from competing in women’s sports and sex change or hormonal procedures for minors.
“Last night during a CNN town hall, former governor Nikki Haley suggested that allowing transgender girls into female locker rooms is driving up suicidal thoughts among teenage girls. I was wondering if you had any comment,” he said.
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“I’m not going to go beyond what we’ve talked about when it comes to the Department of Education, when it comes to this president as it relates to that particular issue,” Jean-Pierre responded. “But look, I think more broadly, what we have seen from Republicans just across the country as it relates to transgender youth, the LGBTQI+ community, we’ve seen more than 600 bills—many of those are targeted at transgender youth. And that is something that the president is gonna continue to speak out against, it is appalling what we’re seeing—that hate, the attack against this community.”
She said President Joe Biden will “continue to lift up” the LGBTQ community during “Pride Month,” which is annually scheduled in June. (RELATED: Conservatives Accuse Jean-Pierre Of ‘Hateful’ Rhetoric Over Trans Comments After Nashville Shooting)
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found 1 in 3 teenage girls seriously contemplated suicide in 2021 and 3 in 5 “felt persistently sad or hopeless,” according to a study published in February. The study did not mention any correlation between allowing males into women’s facilities and sports.